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LPF: A Team Effort

A Team Effort

LISA Pathfinder is an international effort under European leadership. Scientific institutes, ESA and industry are working closely together:

Science Working Team: The LISA Pathfinder Science Team provides ESA with advice on all aspects of Science and Technology related to the mission. The team is chaired by the LPF Project Scientist, and composed of seven members from ESA member states, and representatives for the LISA project, both in Europe and the US. The PI of the mission (Prof. Stefano Vitale) is located at the University of Trento, Italy, and the Co-PI (Prof. Dr. Karsten Danzmann) is located at the Albert Einstein Institute in Hannover, Germany.

The European aerospace company Astrium Ltd (an EADS company) at Stevenage, Great Britain, is the Prime Contractor for the mission and is responsible for building the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft i.e. the payload carrier.

The LISA Technology Package (LTP) is built by a consortium of European space companies from France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland led by the industrial partner Astrium GmbH (an EADS company), Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The second payload package, the Disturbance Reduction System (DRS), is developed in the United States by JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) under the leadership of NASA. It provides a system of Micro-Newton thrusters complementary to the on-board LTP technology with dedicated control electronics.